GTBank MD, Segun Agbaje’s Mother In-Law, Nike Olakunri dies in Church

The family of GTBank MD, Segun Agbaje and Derin Agabje, has been thrown into mourning as his mother in-law Chief Mrs. Olutoyin Olusola Olakunri, reportedly slumped and died during a church service this morning.

Prior to her death, Chief Mrs. Olutoyin Olakunri was the first female Chartered Accountant in Sub-Saharan Africa and the second female President of ICAN. To date, there have been six female heads of ICAN, and quite a number of eligible women in line.

She was born on November 4, 1937, she attended primary school in Nigeria, and completed her secondary and tertiary education in the United Kingdom. In February 1963, the mother in-law od the GTBank CEO Chief Mrs. Olakunri, qualified as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales; and became a Foundation Member the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria [ICAN] in 1965.

She was the Chief Promoter of the Society of Women Accountants in Nigeria [SWAN], which she served as Chairman for over a decade. Among other initiatives, SWAN has supported women to realize their potentials in the fields of accountancy, mathematics and other numeracies. In 1997, in Paris, it launched the World Body for Women Accountants; and has been supporting women of other professions to set up similar organizations at the national, regional and global levels.

Chief Olutoyin Olakunri worked with Casselton Elliot & Co. as a Chartered Accountant and the then Nigerian Industrial Development Bank [NIDB], among others. She subsequently took a courageous leap into entrepreneurship & corporate management — owning and managing industrial outfits and venturing into stock broking.

She was also the Chairman of the then Education Trust Fund [now Tertiary Education Fund] for two terms. She had variously served on the Council of Federal University of Ado-Ekiti, Redeemer’s University, Bells University of Technology, & Achievers’ University.

She also held Chieftaincy by communities in Owo, Ijebu-Ode, Abeokuta and Ijero-Ekiti. She was married to Elder Simeon Olakunri, SAN with children and grandchildren.